


Power the Dark Lord Knows Not

by mistrali



Series: Harry Potter, Canon Divergences [8]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, To rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 11:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25968634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistrali/pseuds/mistrali
Summary: The many downfalls of Tom Marvolo Riddle, alias Voldemort.
Series: Harry Potter, Canon Divergences [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1280579
Comments: 30
Kudos: 6





	Power the Dark Lord Knows Not

Hidden under Disillusionment Charms, Sprout, the other Order members and the older students — including the DA, which had flourished well after Kingsley Shacklebolt, in defiance of Fudge’s orders, had Stunned Umbridge and Apparated with her to the Ministry — conjured earmuffs as fast as they could and handed them out. They weren’t fluffy and pink, this time, but military-standard Muggle ones, powered with magic instead of electricity.

If worn securely, the earmuffs would shield against the army of adult Mandrakes they were about to unleash on Voldemort’s motley band of fifty Death Eaters at their next meeting, in just three hours. Severus and the Malfoys had already placed anti-Apparition wards around Malfoy Manor, Voldemort’s current headquarters. The others had taken it in turns to Portkey to the Manor.

Many of the younger Hufflepuffs had wanted to help — none of them knew Harry Potter, who hardly spoke to anyone except Hermione and Ron, but everyone had liked Cedric Diggory. But all fourth-years and below had been sent straight to their common rooms.

Justin Finch-Fletchley took particular satisfaction in spelling his earmuffs bright yellow and black; some of the other children began to follow suit, with red, gold, green, silver, blue and bronze shimmering here and there among the yellow. Neville had not only helped to grow the Mandrakes from seed, but was now casting Geminio with a speed and a fervour that made Filius award him fifty points on the spot. Since joining the DA, his Charms work had improved by leaps and bounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Tom have enough followers for a coup by the end of DH? Ehhh, possibly. Fifty is a rather liberal estimate considering the population of the WW, but let’s go with it.
> 
> Inspired by one of Sunnyskywalker’s comments on a DTCL post:
> 
> “I remember reading a short fic years ago in which Dean Thomas was the Chosen One. He used the power of a big yellow earth mover to crush Voldemort, iirc. It was great. (I feel like this is a game of Clue. Was it Dean, at the construction site, with the earth mover? Neville, on the battlements, with the Devil's Snare? Fleur, in the Great Hall, with distracting Veela allure and Incendio?)”
> 
> Why not all of them at once?
> 
> Although Voldie would no doubt have been aware of Mandrakes, most of his Death Eaters seem too dense to remember them. If the number of Ministry officials who can’t cast Shield Charms, or indeed Harry’s reliance on the same three or four second-year spells well into DH, is any indication, then it seems Hogwarts education is in one ear (so to speak) and out the other.


End file.
